In November of 2013 just a few weeks before Art Basel in Miami Beach, I received an invitation from Elliott, (my Miami star PR guy) to attend an unplugged performance by emerging Puerto Rican sensation, Myraida Carmona who goes by the stage name, Calma Carmona at Cafeina Lounge in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District.
Breaking out from the underground music world that she is more familiar with, the dreadlocked beauty walked on stage during her sneak peak performance with passion, maturity and cool swag.
Sitting down to chat with the young songwriter, it was at first difficult not to direct my attention to the beautiful and well groomed head of locks she rocked for 11 years after damaging her natural hair with perm. She was very graceful and confessed that most of her conversations are generally dominated with questions about her hair.
“It is about my hair now,” she laughed.
Described as a cross between Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, this Latin beauty’s intimate performance was captivating and raw. The inaugural unplugged performance was honest and soulful which consisted of her own opening rendition of “Fever” by La Lupe, followed by a series of upbeat Latin soul tracks from her “There’s No Other Girl” live session EP.
“I like making a connection with people through my music,” Calma shared of her performance.
Calma describes herself as an old soul with strong and powerful female influences like Tina Turner, Sade and others.
“I am more of an old soul,” she said. ” When you listen to Marvin Gaye and you hear a calmness in the background, there was Latin influence back there. It wasn’t in your face.”
Fluent in both Spanish and English, Calma fluidly switched between languages as she seduces her audience with Calma fever.
She later revealed that she finds it a bit challenging sometimes to sing soul music in spanish and have it feel the same. Fortunately for us, it was not evident.
“I want to be able to make music not only for the Latin community.” Calma continued, “I want to be able to work on my craft and have a good show where it doesn’t matter if you are Latin or American for you to feel the song. I don’t want the language to be a factor.”
It was apparent that Calma has a certain je ne sais quoi that Beyonce saw in her when she selected her to open for her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in Puerto Rico, only three days after launching her first EP “There’s No Other Girl”.
“It was amazing,” she said. “I still can’t believe it.”
Founded by Miami-based entrepreneur, Melissa Giles, SOULFRITO Urban Latin Music Festival, a Latin showcase for emerging artists has been the launch pad for artists like Pitbull, Wisin Y Yandel, Aventura and Kat Deluna, among others. This February, the young songwriter and very promising Calma will grace the stage at Sun Life Stadium hoping to follow in the footsteps of her predecessors.
“I am following my dreams,” shared the Latin-soul singer. “I didn’t quite understand it, until I saw where we are going to perform. It is quite amazing”
SOULFRITO The Urban Latin Music Festival will take place on February 22nd, 2014, at Sun Life Stadium, featuring NAS, Don Omar, Juicy J, Victor Manuelle, Hector “El Torito” Acosta, Sensato, Plan B, Sensato Calma Carmona, DJ Camilo,DJ Enuff and hosted by Adrienne Bailon and Julissa Bermudez. Tickets are now on sale through Ticketmaster by visiting www.soulfrito.com.
“Soulfrito is a mixture of hip hop, Latin, reggae, soul…you don’t have to be one of these things to enjoy,” Calma shared.
